Tod Pronto’s new album It Can’t All Be Wrong goes on iTunes pre-sale today for just $6.99 with two instant downloads of 74 Dodge Dart and The Devil Will Never Win. To see on iTunes, CLICK HERE.
Review by Bryan Marovich
In his third full-length album, local singer-songwriter Tod Pronto is at it again, making music and writing songs that rock, make you think, and get stuck in your head. The album is titled It Can’t All Be Wrong, and it comes out on June 2.
To describe Pronto’s music as alt-country is somewhat of a misnomer. In fact, it is a clear understatement, although the album is full of alt-country style tunes like the opening track “74 Dodge Dart,” that ranks up there with some of the best roads songs around. “I-91, southbound lane / hit 120 and she started to shake,” Pronto sings.
The album takes off from the start like the Dodge Dart Pronto sings about.
The songs move along, touching upon a number of topics, from the loss of love, confusion, the thrill of the open road in your first car, longing for a warmer place, to becoming that person that you never thought you would become.
One of Pronto’s strengths as a songwriter is that he has the ability to write songs that are extremely catchy. Some of the tracks on It Can’t All Be Wrong become earworms after the first listen, however, Pronto is a smart enough musician not to let his art be dumbed down into just more kitsch in an industry overrun with pop music.
It was his talent for writing catchy tunes that first led Pronto to Nashville, where he spent some time writing and recording. It was an experience filled with success, but never fully satisfied his creative vision.
“I took a long break from music after the Nashville experiment,” Pronto said. “I was fed up with trying to write songs for an industry and not art.”
One thing refreshing about It Can’t All Be Wrong is that it’s not just a collection of songs. It’s an actual album. Throughout the tracks Pronto takes the listener along on a roller coaster of emotions and life experiences that work together as a whole.
Like much of Pronto’s music, It Can’t All Be Wrong is difficult to label. Americana, or Alt-Country come the closest, even though it ends with an almost dance or electronic track with a chorus that chants “the devil will never win.”
There is a little something for everyone on the album.
Some of my favorite tracks include:
74 Dodge Dart
Dammit I
I Think I Just Might
Working on It Can’t All Be Wrong, Pronto called up some of the most talented musicians in and from the Northeast Kingdom to help him get it right.
“I have this rule. I always want to be the worst musician on my albums or in my band and so far it has worked out great,” Pronto jokes.
Steve Bertrand plays guitar, piano, and sings harmonies on It Can’t All Be Wrong, as well as mixing most of the album out in Los Angeles. Nate Michaud, Jerod Carbonneau, and Micah Carbonneau also appear on the album.
With It Can’t All Be Wrong behind him, Pronto says he is going to use it as a catalyst to push himself back into the music business.
“I took a break and focused on radio for a while and now that phase has run its course and I want to get back out there and do what I love. Write songs, perform them for an audience and hopefully have a good time doing it.”
